Secret of Good Soap

Did you know that most commercial soaps have some of the following ingredients?

Synthetic Scents– Soaps may contain fragrances which are synthetic compounds that can lead to drying out or irritation of your skin.

Triethanolamine – is an ingredient common to branded soaps. This is a possible human carcinogen that is linked to other health problems. When this ingredient is present, three other chemicals also go along with this: sodium lauroyl sarcosinate, TEA-stearate and tocopherol. All these do not exempt from causing mild to serious health problems.

PEG-6 and sodium PCA – These chemicals are usually found in cleansing bar soaps, they may contain harmful impurities that are linked with cancer to other health problems. PEG-6, in particular is known to be linked to breast cancer.

Chemical surfactants–Sodium lauryl sulfate is usually added to increase the lather quality. According to, The Journal of The American College of Toxicology (ACT) in 1983, concentrations of sodium lauryl of as low as 0.5% could cause irritation. Here’s something to disturb you: Studies have shown that numerous soaps have concentrations of up to 30%. The ACT has reported this to be highly irritating and dangerous.

Propylene Glycol – a common ingredient in soaps, is a penetration enhancer. All these previously mentioned chemicals can be further activated, stimulated and enhanced by propylene glycol. This chemical poses risks of other health concerns.

Triclosan – a chemical used for its antibacterial properties, is an ingredient in many detergents, dish-washing liquids, soaps, deodorants, cosmetics, lotions, anti-microbial creams, various toothpastes. However, the safety of triclosan has been questioned in regard to environmental and human health. While the companies that manufacture products containing this chemical claim that it is safe, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has registered it as a pesticide. The chemical formulation and molecular structure of this compound are similar to some of the most toxic chemicals on earth, relating it to dioxins and PCBs. The EPA gives triclosan high scores both as a human health risk and as an environmental risk.

So the million dollar question is what can you do about it? Well, the solution is simple. Make your own soap. Soap to stop germs, and to promote good hygiene. Yes readers, it is that simple to make soap.

All you need is a few type of vegetable oils, (or animal fats if you choose), water, and lye (caustic soada). Before anyone comments, yes I realise that it takes petroleum to harvest the plants that produce the oils, and if not sourced locally they have high food miles, however you can source most from local producers if needs be, and we have a readily available source of olive oil in our region. The lye can also be produced from wood ash. Please, if using palm oil, purchase it from sustainable sources, and not the stuff they are burning down rainforests to plant.

If you want to see how it is made, I produced a YouTube video some time back which is embedded below.

It is an easy process, that only takes about 30 minutes.

Here is some soap that Kim and I made on Sunday from olive, sunflower, rice bran, and organic coconut oils. My recipe can be found at this post: Our Soap Recipe.

Here are the wooden moulds that we use. Kim lines them with cling wrap so that the liquid doesn’t leak out when poured into the mould.

The soap can be defrocked on about day two or three depending if it has gone hard enough to keep its shape.

Once the cling wrap is removed, the soap can be cut into bars. Please note that the soap is still quite alkaline at this stage, so wear protective gloves as a precaution.

This one kilogram (2.2lbs) block is called Sandlewood and Musk. We only use essential oils as the fragrance in minute quantities.

The soap is still quite soft, so it is easy to cut into bars.

Here is the finished product for this block. 10 bars in total.

This block was made by splitting the liquid into two batches and adding two separate colours, then combining the batch in the mould. You actually get three colours if you only lightly mix the primary colour through the liquid soap before it sets.

This is the finished product for Berry. The two kilogram blog was cut into 24 bars.

The third block was Ocean fragrance, and again we divided the batch in two and only coloured one half. Once combined it looks like waves in the ocean.

Again, this made 24 bars of soap.

The next part of the process is curing the soap. For four weeks you need to turn each bar once daily. We have set up a trestle table in the front room and placed the bars on wire racks so they don’t stick to it. As the water evaporates and the lye further reacts with the oils, the bars harden and continue to do so over time. As with all soaps, don’t get it in your eyes, it stings!

The result is a nice, safe cleanser to wash yourself and your family with. Much better than that cocktail of chemicals they try and flog to us as soap!

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About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber's daily goal is to live a more sustainable lifestyle, in an effort to reduce his family's environmental footprint so we can all make a difference for our children & future generations to come.

Comments

I wouldn’t recommend that people try to make their own lye from wood ash, particularly those just starting out. It will be extremely difficult to get a consistent strength and may result in lye-heavy batches and lye calculators will give incorrect results.

Much as it sounds wonderful to make your own from a waste product, don’t. Go to the hardware store and buy some. You will end up with a much more consistent product and you will ensure your own safety.

I’m not saying you are recommending that Gavin, but I can just see people reading that and thinking they’ll do it themselves. Thanks for a timely post. I’d better hurry up and order more Lavender EO so I can soap up a storm 🙂

Hi Monique. I agree. Wood ash is the last resort unless you know exactly what you are doing. I don’t, so I do not use it. Just demonstrating that if we face a long descent, we can still make some kind of soap!

I don’t know exactly what I’m doing with it either so I don’t use it. It would be interesting to learn though. I wonder if there are how to’s out there on the http://www... I know that running water through it is one of the steps. There’s got to be more to it than that though, and you would want to invest in a good pH test kit to ensure you get it right!!

Of course I generally keep enough lye in the cupboard for about 3 years worth of soap so I should be right if we face a long descent lol.

Hey how do you find coconut oil in your soaps? I’ve been using palm because I have it, but once that’s used up I won’t be buying it again. Does coconut give the same hardness to the bars that palm does?

hi there. Can I ask could I use silicon loaf pans instead of the cling film? I am awful with it and I pull it off the roll and it all sticks together and it is them useless to me. I dont even know how it happens. I must be static or something.

I am really keen on this. and really would like to try, as we now live in a hard water area and my skin suffers and I now have eczema, which I never have before so would love to try this to see if I can make something gentle.

I’ve used a silicon ring pan before and the bars I cut from that looked gorgeous! But my family complained the wedge shape was too hard to hold. Boo hoo. lol

I did find that the soap set up much faster in the silicon than it did in my timber mould. I think I make a much smaller batch than Gavin does as I make it in an old mixmaster due to dodgy hands unable to hold the button of the stick blender in for long enough. With my timber mould, I wrap it in a towel and leave it overnight. With the silicon, I wrapped it as usual, but I found it was ready to slice within a few hours. So keep checking it regularly.

Also, I’ve used a silicon loaf mould once and the sides bowed out once I poured the soap in. It was an interesting look, but if you are after more straight sided soap, try to find a box or something with solid sides to support the silicon so it maintains its shape.

I have heard that Propylene Glycol is one of the chemicals in brake fluid. If you look at the ingredients of some sore bought cakes like those mini lamingtons that people by for their kids lunches, you will find Propylene Glycol. Supposedly it is in there to preserve and keep the cakes moist. Make your own cake and forgo the brake fluid I say.

I have also just started playing around with making my own soap, I am a little dubious on how mine is going to turn out though. I am going to try your recipe, it looks good. Cheers for posting it.

I love soap making, it’s so satisfying. I made my first batch when I was 19, 12 years ago now, haven’t had to buy any since then! I like to experiment with natural colours, and I use powdered clays for subtle colours like pale green and pink, but spices from your kitchen cupboard are beautiful too. Paprika makes a beautiful pale orange/salmon colour depending on how much you use, cocoa makes varying shades of brown, turmeric for yellow/orange. I’ve also marbled one with cloves.

I started making soap at home because my partner has a sensitive nose and can’t stand the perfumes in commercial soaps, shampoos etc. I don’t add essential oils or perfumes, but do use honey, which gives a lovely subtle fragrance to the finished product. It’s also supposed to improve the lather. I certainly have no problems there, so it surely doesn’t hurt!

The colour is nice, too – a soft golden beige colour with flecks of ground oatmeal or barley added for texture. Much, much cheaper than brand soap, higher quality and more attractive. Not to mention astonishingly easy and fun to make.

Hi Gavin – thanks for the recipe – just to make sure that I got it right, did you only put the thermometer in for the oil to reach 50 but you did not measure the temp for the lye (hope so as this would make it much easier for me than my present method! Great video and pictures and am going to buy your e-book, really enjoyed the little bit that I did read!!

Hello Gavin, I would love to know how your soap lathers up in hard water? Is it made for soft & hard water? or does that not matter? I have never seen a recipe quiet like yours. Maybe it’s because yours is made up ith so many diffferent oils. My recipe is simple. Is the lather thick? creamy? fluffy? using the oils you use? I would love to come across a recipe one day that gave me a hard bar of soap that is rich and creamy with plenty of bubbles/lather. Many people stray from soaps that don’t have massive lather & bubbles in their hands. The store bought soaps have ruined them when you try to explain to them that lather is often chemicals. Castor Oil helps a little but to date..I get 1/2 and 1/2 on my recipe which is heavy in shea butter. Thanks so much! I enjoy your website I have spent hours on your site! It’s my weekend guilty leasure..lol..Take care & Happy Holiday! Robyn

Hello Gavin, I make industrial soap to be used in metal finishing industry. I do use TEA. I like to know that how to calculate SAP value when I use TEA. Imagine I got Fatty Acid with 200 mgm KOH/gm SAP value, what is the SAP value for TEA?

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About Gavin Webber

An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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Podcast Reviews

Always inspiring and entertaining!

August 4, 2016 by floriographer from Australia

I've crowed about Gavin's podcast before but I just have to recommend it once again - I love that he shares his learning as well as his successes - it helps the rest of us try try try again! Thanks Gavin!

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July 22, 2016 by Ketaea12 from New Zealand

I really enjoy listening to Gavin, he has a kind lovely voice. He covers some great relevant topics for the everyday greenie. With lots of tips or how to or what not to do.
Thanks Gavin, love it!!

Well worth your time to tune in

October 23, 2015 by A Vision Splendid from Australia

I can highly recommend Gavin’s podcast !
I have followed Gavin’s blog since the very beginning and have loved to see his journey unfold. Gavin has a lovely speaking voice so this podcast is always very easy to listen to.
Gavin has a very authentic approach to his green living lifestyle. He shares the ups and downs but always provides motivation and practical steps that we can all implement.

very good

June 28, 2015 by Scared pax from United Kingdom

This is a great podcast if you want to improve your life in so many aspects and become a more sustainable person. I love the soothing voice, the good pace, and it contains lots of useful information. Recommended!

opened my eyes

May 25, 2015 by Gorn4lyfe from Australia

A wonderful show!

Inspiring

April 30, 2015 by Alan Whelan from Ireland

This is a great podcast if you're looking for practical info on saving money by living more sustainably from someone who's made that journey over the last few years. Told in a nice, easy conversational style

Green Living, inspiring and practical

January 8, 2015 by EliseMac from Australia

Thanks Gav for sharing what has (and hasn't) worked along your journey for living a greener lifestyle. Inspiring and achievable for anyone, I look forward to this podcast weekly.

Local food equals less waste

December 27, 2014 by allotmentadventureswithjean from Australia

Another brilliant podcast from Gavin Webber encouraging us, and showing us how, to cut down on food miles, growing our own food, and cutting down on food waste. Gavin is a really interesting speaker, showing us how to eat better, growing our own food and how to live more sustainably.

Honestly australian

December 15, 2014 by HodgepodgeOz from Australia

Fantastic podcast, with a wide variety of well thought and researched topics. Gavin is a honest, forthright pod aster with a genuine interest in helping others get green. Like a day alongside is a day wasted, so too is a week without listening to Gavin. Highly recommended for people starting out, or those in the midst of their new lifestyle. Keep it up Gavin, wish there were more great reviews! Kimberley

Morning motivation

December 8, 2014 by Bunnyworm from Australia

Gavin has a great passion for living this greener lifestyle that motivates others to do the same. The podcasts are always interesting and informative. :)

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October 18, 2014 by BoomOpGirl from Australia

Gavin's enthusiasm and passion for creating a more sustainable world is nothing short of contagious. Thanks Gav, you are my weekly source of motivation for living a sustainable life! :)

Gavin speaks from the heart

October 13, 2014 by Green gavin from Australia

Gavin's podcasts are required listening for anyone planning to live a more sustainable life. He doesn't preach, but tells you his story from the heart. You'll laugh, smile, share in his concerns and along the way you'll pick up some great tips on living a simple life.

Green thoughts, so well iterated

October 9, 2014 by Kwasikwami from Australia

This is a wonderful podcast. Not only does Gavin talk knowledgeably on a range of sustainability topics from gardening tips all the way to the issues facing humanity as a whole, but he does so in such a wonderful voice, it's like listening to my Dad, love it!!

Easy listening inspiration on being green

September 24, 2014 by Broomedy from Australia

Gav knows how to share his journey to a more sustainable life in a manner that shows just how easy it really is. Not to mention healthier, economically beneficial and generally rewarding. The podcasts are an easy way to absorb Gav's great lifestyle. I recommend to anyone.

Thanks Gavin!

August 31, 2014 by Honeywoodmilk from Australia

Great practical advice for a greener lifestyle. This podcast is for anybody interested in growing their own food in suburbia, saving electricity, brewing beer, making cheese, all that wonderful business and most of all, saving money! Thanks Gavin, love the podcast mate!

Enjoyed those ideas for staying warm

August 15, 2014 by enduringdragon from United States

Like you we are having winter here in Chile—brrr! Every bit we can save on heating we will.

Green Podcasts

July 26, 2014 by Carneu from Australia

Excellent podcasts, which are full of information to help get started on a sustainable lifestyle.

Practical ideas and inspiration

July 19, 2014 by HeathrowHeath from Australia

I highly recommend Gavin's podcast and blog. Down to earth, entertaining and inspirational. Thank you.

Interesting & easy to listen to

April 27, 2014 by Velocity3 from New Zealand

Gavin & his guests make this green journey lots of fun.

Great green listen

April 18, 2014 by Obscurenickname from Australia

Gavin is a great down to earth, tell it like it is aussie with a passion for sustainability and growing food and making cheese